Singing decorator saves Flintshire church recital

It was not the kind of filling-in John Pierce had expected when he took on a decorating job at a church.

Mr Pierce, a classically-trained opera singer who once performed for Prince Charles, had taken the decorating job to help support his young family.

But when illness forced a pianist to pull out of a lunchtime recital at the United Reformed Church in Maldon, Essex, Mr Pierce agreed to stand in at the last minute.

Dressed in overalls and a paint-splattered Ospreys rugby shirt, 34-year-old tenor Mr Pierce, from Holywell, Flintshire, gave a 45-minute singing performance that earned him a standing ovation.